Synthesis of bis(ylidene) cyclohexanones and their antifungal activity against selected plant pathogenic fungi

Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia solani and Hemileia vastatrix are three species of phytopathogenic fungi behind major crop losses worldwide. These have been selected as target models for testing the fungicide potential of a series of bis(ylidene) cyclohexanones. Although some compounds of this chemical class are known to have inhibitory activity against human pathogens, they have never been explored for the control of phytopathogens until now. In the present work, bis(ylidene) cyclohexanones were synthesized through simple, fast and low-cost base- or acid-catalyzed aldol condensation reaction and tested in vitro against B. cinerea, R. solani and H. vastatrix. bis(pyridylmethylene) cyclohexanones showed the highest activity against the target fungi. When tested at 200 nmol per mycelial plug against R. solani., these compounds completely inhibited the mycelial growth, and the most active bis(pyridylmethylene) cyclohexanone compound had an IC₅₀ of 155.5 nmol plug^-1. Additionally, bis(pyridylmethylene) cyclohexanones completely inhibited urediniospore germination of H. vastatrix, at 125 μmol L^-1. The most active bis(pyridylmethylene) cyclohexanone had an IC₅₀ value of 4.8 µmol L^-1, which was estimated as approximately 2.6 times lower than that found for the copper oxychloride-based fungicide, used as control. Additionally, these substances had a low cytotoxicity against the mammalian Vero cell line. Finally, in silico calculations indicated that these compounds present physicochemical parameters regarded as suitable for agrochemicals. Bis(ylidene) cyclohexanones may constitute promising candidates for the development of novel antifungal agents for the control of relevant fungal diseases in agriculture.

(E,E)-3-Methyl-2,5-bis-(4-methyl-benzyl-idene)cyclo-penta-none: synthesis, characterization, Hirshfeld surface analysis and anti-bacterial activity

The title compound, (E,E)-3-methyl-2,5-bis-(4-methyl-benzyl-idene)cyclo-penta-none (MBMCP), C22H22O, was obtained by Claisen-Schmidt condensation of 4-methyl-benzaldehyde with 3-methyl-cyclo-penta-none in good yield. The structure of MBMCP was studied using UV, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, and 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The mol-ecular structure of MBMCP is fully extended in the E,E configuration. C-H⋯π stacking inter-actions play a significant role in the stabilization of the mol-ecular packing. Hirshfeld surface analysis was used to qu-antify the non-covalent inter-actions in the crystal lattice. Microbiological studies were performed to investigate the anti-microbial activity of this new product.